


"It could've been you."

by theyoungv_eins



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: (does 400+ words count as drabble??), Drabble, M/M, Sort Of Fluff, angst???, how do categorise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 05:24:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8477023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theyoungv_eins/pseuds/theyoungv_eins
Summary: Aaron talks. Robert pretends that he’s listening.--Set after the funeral, S44E593. Robert doesn't want to lose Aaron.





	

They finally get some time alone, after everyone else has gone home. They sit together in a lonely corner of the pub, pressed as close together as they can get.

Aaron talks. Robert pretends that he’s listening. On his lap, he twists his fingers together, pushing too harshly at the bones beneath his skin with his thumbs. His mind is racing at a million miles an hour. Cuts on his face. Wet clothes, wet hair. His legs trapped under the steering column. His voice, so broken and scared.

He doesn’t realise that Aaron has noticed that he’s not paying attention until their shoulders are knocking together and he’s facing him.

“Hey. Easy,” Aaron says softly, covering Robert’s hands with his own. Robert immediately turns his palms upwards and their fingers slide together easily. He has to remind himself that _he’s alive, he’s still here. He’s okay_. “You alright?”

Robert hesitates, pressing his lips hard together. Aaron’s looking at him, expression questioning and worried. “It could’ve been your funeral today.” He speaks quietly and slowly. He can hardly get the words out without his voice wavering, without the words catching slightly in his throat. He tightens his grip on Aaron’s hands and looks at him, sees nothing but love. It’s hard for him to continue, but he manages. “It could’ve been you.”

Aaron’s eyes soften. “But it wasn’t me,” he reminds him. He shifts on the spot so he can face Robert properly. He’s looking down again, slowly stroking over Aaron’s thumb with his own. “You got me out of that car. You saved me.”

“I just don’t want to think about losing you. I can’t lose you. Not after…” Robert pauses to swallow. “Not after everything.”

“I love you.” Aaron lets go of Robert’s hands to touch his cheeks. He wipes at the corners of his fiancé’s barely wet eyes with his thumbs. He says it again, quieter this time. “I love you. You won’t lose me.”

Robert smiles down at his lap, revelling in the giddy feeling he gets every time Aaron tells him he loves him. Everything feels different with him. Better, nicer. “Doesn’t mean I’m not always going to be scared,” he tells him.  

Aaron leans towards him and they share a kiss, soft and sweet and long. “I know.” His voice is quiet, the words barely there. His hands slip from Robert’s cheeks and find their way back to his lap to hold his hand again.

Robert tells Aaron he loves him, and it feels just as good saying it as it does hearing it.

**Author's Note:**

> guess who binged a month's worth of emmerdale this weekend! (me)
> 
> thank you for reading!   
> i appreciate it a lot.


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